


make you feel (breathe, breathe me in)

by saltziepark



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Love/Hate, One True Pairing, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, josie is a gay pining mess, penelope can't keep it in her pants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-01-01 08:37:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18332501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltziepark/pseuds/saltziepark
Summary: Josie Saltzman knew a few things about herself - she loved her twin sister, Lizzie, more than anything in this world, her favorite color was yellow and she had successfully lobbied for its inclusion as an official school color and won, thank you very much, and she was falling in love with Penelope Park faster than you can say ‘ignalusa.’





	1. honey and quietude

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly cannot get Penelope and Josie out of my head so I have decided to write about my two favorite girls. All mistakes are my own, but I am going back to edit and tweak some things here and there. Please leave comments/kudos because I crave validation like Josie craves Penelope Park. Find me @/saltziepark on Twitter if you want to chat.

Josie Saltzman knew a few things about herself - she loved her twin sister, Lizzie, more than anything in this world, her favorite color was yellow and she had successfully lobbied for its inclusion as an official school color and won, thank you very much, and she was falling in love with Penelope Park faster than you can say ‘ignalusa.’ 

It all started one afternoon in the library when Josie was sitting by herself, reading up on some magical theory in preparation for her classes the next day when Penelope very loudly and very obnoxiously annexed half of Josie’s desk, dropping old books with a smirk before disappearing into the stacks to grab more, covering the shared space with pages upon pages of notes that were inching their way towards Josie like an overgrown vine. 

“You know, “ she whispered to Penelope when the shorter brunette returned with an armful of books a few moments later, “you could have asked to sit here before you just started taking over. This isn’t your own personal Crimea.” 

“And I’m not an authoritarian dictator, no matter what you may think of me. I'm certainly closer to a Queen, no? But I’m sorry, Josie, did you need more space for your imaginary friends?” Penelope’s eyes moved around the empty table. A smirk and a laugh and Penelope disappeared once more. Josie nearly burned the girl’s notes for her asshole comments, grabbing one to stare at the scribbles. 

The meticulous, adorable, curvy handwriting of Penelope Park caused butterflies in Josie’s stomach that she could only attribute to anger at being so rudely interrupted and not to joy at seeing exactly how Penelope looped her p’s and dotted her i’s. Nope, this was pure hatred running through Josie’s veins causing her heart to beat loudly in her chest. The notes were organized, but they were all wrong. It seemed Penelope was struggling with a cloaking spell, at any rate. Her Latin translation looked a bit loose and that was probably where she was running into trouble. Josie crossed out the incorrect words and wrote in the correct ones, reworking the phrasing a bit and reminding herself that while she was helping Penelope, it was a one-time thing that the other girl would probably never acknowledge. 

She tossed the paper back on Penelope’s pile before the girl returned, messing up the papers a bit to look more chaotic and random. Smooth, Josie, so smooth, she told herself, internally facepalming as she turned back to her own notes, her multicolored flashcards sitting near the edge of the table. She moved her arm too quickly, causing the delicate pile of vocabulary words to fall to the ground. 

“Shoot,” she whispered, dropping out of her seat to gather up the pile with all of the words she had already gone over mixed in with the new words. She was going to have to organize everything again, setting her back hours when her hand found something soft and warm. Not a flashcard. Definitely Penelope’s hand. Definitely her very soft hand with black fingernail polish and silver and gold rings adorning her fingers. A jolt of electricity flashed through Josie’s body at the touch and she nearly jumped out of her skin Looking up from the pile, Josie sees Penelope crouched next to her, gathering the flashcards into her own pile before wordlessly handing them to Josie. 

“What?” she asks with a shoulder shrug as Josie stares, mouth open. Her eyes fall to Penelope’s unbuttoned shirt, which was never, ever buttoned properly to begin with (Josie could count so many times that Penelope was strutting around the school with a lazy bow around her neck and the buttons of her top barely covering her lace bra, not that she was complaining one bit), and she stares at the flash of skin visible as she crouches over. “Like what you see, Jojo?”

“You disgust me.” Josie spits to the brunette, not bothering to thank her for the help in gathering up her flashcards, her face beet red and her heart hammering away in her chest. Was it hot in the library or was it just Penelope? 

“You’re welcome,” Penelope replies in a sing-song voice, hands on her hips to roll her eyes at Josie before she walks to her side of the desk and the monumental task awaiting her. 

xxx

Josie quickly figures that she and Penelope have very similar schedules and routines. It seems that every day after dinner that she escapes to the library to study, Penelope is already there or joins her shortly after, as if she appeared out of smoke. Some days she was still dressed in her plaid school uniform and those days Josie had to focus extra hard on her studies, nearly cracking her pencil lead once or twice in an attempt to avert her gaze from Penelope’s legs that seemed to go on for miles. 

Other days, Penelope would show up in black ripped jeans and a grey hoodie pulled up and over her curly jet-black hair. Stylish but comfortable. Feminine but unique. Josie knew Lizzie hated to study in the library, always making some excuse about the smell of the old books, but Josie absolutely adored the worn leather chairs, the sturdy wooden tables, and maybe, just maybe, she relished in the chance to see Penelope Park all on her own every day. They sit together more often than not, Josie never mentioning the jolt of electricity that she felt when her hand touched Penelope’s, Penelope never mentioning that she was able to finally perform the cloaking spell that had been plaguing her for weeks. 

But just when Josie thinks that they have finally started to bond, just when she had gotten used to seeing Penelope, a different side of her, the armor tossed away and replaced with a quick-witted, cynical teenage girl, she doesn’t show up. Josie arrives at her usual spot, an extra cupcake that she had snagged from the kitchens sitting in the space in front of Penelope’s favorite chair. An hour passes and then another and Josie tries not to let the sinking feeling in her stomach get the best of her. She was foolish to get her hopes up but she really thought that they were getting _somewhere._

The library door opens and closes quickly and Josie hears familiar steps, her head snapping up so quickly that she almost gives herself whiplash. But Penelope isn’t alone. An arm is wrapped around a leggy blonde as she stumbles through the library, shushing each other as Penelope grabs the girl’s face to pull her into a kiss. 

“Shit,” Penelope whispers, coming to her senses as she sees Josie staring at her, tears in her eyes. Josie’s reaction seems to sober Penelope up quickly, hand falling from the girl’s face as she takes a step to the side as if to say “it's not what it looks like.” Her eyes flash to the cupcake and Josie wants to either scream or throw the offending treat at Penelope because she had been stupid enough to bring Penelope a fucking cupcake for their study - what? It wasn’t a study date because they weren’t even friends. But Josie had been foolish enough to think that maybe they were going down that path, only to have Penelope reverse course and turn their study spot into a makeout den. 

Josie quickly gets up, gathering her things into her leather tote as she bites her lip, leaving the cupcake where she had placed it hours before. Eyes downcast and tears threatening to fall and she would not give Penelope the satisfaction of seeing her cry, Josie pushes past the pair, Penelope turning before Josie has made it the door.

“Josie, wait -" she says numbly. Josie gives no indication that she has heard her, as she escapes from the library, the door slamming behind her.


	2. a silent rush of thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie pines, pines, and pines some more and then a decision is made.

Penelope doesn’t run after her. Why would she? A whimsical, secret part of Josie (the girl who hopes against all hope that her crush wasn’t one-sided, the girl that thought that she could actually be friends or more with Penelope Park, the girl who dreams of falling in love with someone to catch her) is dejected. The part of her that is more realistic knew it was too good to be true.

If there is one thing that Josie prided herself on, it was being unseen. She’s always had the ability to blend in with the crowd which suits her just fine, as Lizzie always wanted the spotlight for herself and she wasn’t going to fight her on that point. Lessons learned after living with the blonde for fifteen years. So she does what she does best - she avoids the library at all costs, changing up her studying routine by seeking solace in the silence of her dorm room (on occasions when Lizzie was off doing god-knows-what with Rafael) or sneaking into the magical chemistry classroom when she could steal the keys from her father. Which was actually more often than not because the hiding place for his keeys sucked and he really couldn’t do a cloaking spell to save his life. Come on, dad. 

A week had passed and Josie's plan was going well - avoid the library, avoid gorgeous green eyes and amazingly curled hair in the hallways, and most importantly, avoid her feelings. Foolproof plan. Except, it wasn't so easy to forget Penelope Park.

As much as Josie loved the library - and she did, she really did - she could not bear to go back to that corner with that table and the memories of what she had seen. There was a comfort in the quiet in the chemistry classroom. A massive bookshelf stood in the corner with books overflowing the shelves and stacked up head-high on the ground. Tall glass beakers and equipment stood off to one side, the light from the moon shining through the glass. The room was dully lit and Josie definitely preferred it that way. Too much light and she got a headache. 

The desks were massive and there was plenty of space to spread out. It smelled not quite as good as the smell of the library (and perhaps that had something to do with Penelope’s vanilla and peony perfume) but the faint notes of birch and ash hung in the air. Josie inhaled peace and exhaled hurt and jealousy. 

There was always something missing now though. The comments that Penelope made to herself that Josie knew were partially meant for her as she looked at her notes, face scrunched up in concentration. The doodles that she would draw on her paper when she was procrastinating - ranging from plants to cats to the solar system. The adorable way she bit her lip when she didn't think Josie was looking. Okay, so maybe Josie avoiding all thoughts of Penelope really wasn't going to plan. 

Josie cleared her throat loudly, the echo of the noise reminding her that she was feeding this hopeless crush with her pining and it was not doing her any good. _It was like three weeks, Josie, you have got to get over it._ Clearly, Penelope hadn’t given her any thoughts before dragging that girl into the stacks. Rubbing her hands over her eyes, she turned back to her history notes, the dates swimming in and out of focus. 

Josie was torturing herself imagining Penelope kissing the blonde’s cheek, the gasp when she came up for air, the shock on her face when she saw Josie staring. Josie snapped her pencil in two before crumpling up all of the papers before her, throwing them in the wastepaper basket by her desk. She was getting nowhere in her studies and just torturing herself in the process. 

Returning back to her dorm, she tossed her tote on her bed with a huff, not noticing Lizzie reading on her bed. 

“You’re back early, Jo. Finish studying alrea - wait, what’s wrong? “ Stupid twin sense. Josie collapsed in a heap on her bed, knowing the futility of lying to her sister but also not wanting to have this conversation with Lizzie ever. She buried her head in her pile of pillows and groaned before turning over, eyes towards the ceiling. Josie’s pansexuality had never been an issue with her sister and crushes on all kinds of people had come before and they had always been able to talk about them, but this was different. This was unrequited, soul-crushing, like. This was Penelope Park, head witch in charge and definitely not one of Lizzie’s favorite people. 

“You’ve been all mopey for a week now and before that, it seemed like you couldn’t help but walk around with a dorky smile on your face. What happened? Who hurt you?” 

Josie sat up, leaning on her arm, glancing over at her sister. “Lizzie, it’s nothing, really. Just forget about it. I’ll be okay. There’s just a lot going on - school, the Fall Fling coming up, midterms,” Josie is grasping at straws to distract her sister from the real topic at hand - her horrible, terrible crush on Penelope Park - and thank god Lizzie seized on the mention of the dance like a liferaft. 

“So glad you mentioned the dance!” she says brightly, sitting up straighter on her bed, tossing her magazine to one side, and prepping herself for what Josie knows is going to be another long-winded plan she was about to be roped into. 

“We gotta get you out there, Josie, because unless you’re hiding something, you need a date. Are you hiding something? You do need a date, right?” Lizzie doesn't even let the brunette answer before continuing, “and what better way to scout potential dates than at the party at the Old Mill tomorrow night?! You can help me get ready and I can help you get ready and we can show up looking fabulous and come back here with two eligible suitors ready to whisk us off our feet at the Fall Fling. I would like to fling that name to outer space but you know it's going to be a blast!” 

Josie debated saying no to her sister. She really did. But the image of Penelope was burned into her brain and she was beginning to hate this hold Penelope had over her. She knew it was ridiculous to keep entertaining the thought of her crush when Penelope was off doing whomever she wanted. She resolved at that moment to forget about her stupid infatuation with the brunette, pushing it firmly into a dark box in the corner of her mind and accept whatever happened tomorrow night as a sign from fate. She either came home with a date or she would be forever alone. Simple as that. 

“Sure, Lizzie, that sounds like fun,” Josie answered with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's the worst that could happen at a party at the old mill? thank you so much for reading and for those of you that left comments so far! they totally warm my heart. let me know what you think <3


	3. nothing fills me like your love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we got ourselves a party!

Josie had passed the day in her room, unconsciously biting her lip raw with nerves. Luckily, Lizzie had a great spell for that. Josie picked up and put down at least five books, nothing able to hold her attention. A quick run around the campus and she was showered and back in her room, waiting as Lizzie preened in the mirror. 

Parties had always been Lizzie’s thing and after the tenth time of playing the third wheel to her darling sister and her conquest of the week, Josie had given them up altogether. In the back of her mind, the torturous part that was a glutton for punishment, wished she would see Penelope tonight. But the more rational part of her mind told her that it would be the repeat of another scene from the library that Josie had spent days trying to exorcize from her brain. She wasn’t sure which part of her brain would prove her right tonight. 

Lizzie’s promise to stay by her side all night lasted all of three seconds. Josie was sure her sister had every intention of honoring her promise, but the moment she caught sight of Rafael, she knew Lizzie would be trailing after him for the foreseeable future. She gulped down the disappointment because this happened _all the damn time_ and why should tonight be any different? Hands wringing in front of her, Josie scanned the crowd, eyes dancing between couples taking shots, the vamps playing beer pong, and the witches off to one side smoking what she knew were joints with Penelope’s special blend of weed. They blew o’s after each hit, and the smell of vanilla wafted over Josie, even if her inclination to join them never fully materialized. 

Her breath catches in her throat as she makes eye contact with Penelope, chatting with a group of witches, her eyes twinkling in the firelight over the rim of her cup. So she’s alive, at the very least, Josie thought, holding Penelope’s gaze for a few seconds longer, the tension between them thick and heavy. Not able to take it anymore, Josie rolls her eyes and stalks off towards the darkened woods. Three minutes in and she was ready to go home. 

Penelope could have sworn she saw Josie’s resolve crumble, her chin quiver, in the moment before she broke eye contact, but even then, that was giving herself far too much credit. 

xxx

If Penelope cared, she would tell you about the moment in the woods, the bonfire crackling behind her and the party reaching a crescendo, when everything went still. When everything fell silent. The cup that she had brought to her lips to drink from was lowered slowly when her eyes caught sight of Josie. Glancing past her, Penelope notes the frown on Josie's face as she watched Lizzie wrap herself up in some Teen Wolf impersonator, leaving her sister out in the cold. 

A week of drought and the sight of Josie was like seeing an oasis far off in the distance, the beauty of the shimmering aura. If Penelope cared, she would tell you that her heart felt lighter, that Josie radiated calmness and serenity and the color yellow. She would tell you that the color yellow was almost like seeing the surface of a star - blinding, bright, iridescent, golden. 

She would tell you how the moment her eyes caught Josie’s shining brown orbs in the library so many days ago, her stomach flipped and she choked on the words in her mouth, burning them up and exhaling them like ash. She would tell you about how she stepped away from the girl, any desire for a quick fuck banished in a moment. She would tell about how she wanted to run after Josie, catch her hand and spin her around and kiss her with the words that she could never voice aloud. 

Because how could she tell the Headmaster’s daughter that she, Penelope Park, head witch in charge and destroyer of hearts had willingly thrown away all her armor because of a shy smile and eyes that she wanted to fall into forever? How could she admit that she _felt_ the beginning and the end with a girl whose purity of heart she would crack into pieces? Josie deserved better, and the stunt in the library, that was meant to show Josie who Penelope was - unfit for love, deadly nightshade and poison wrapped in designer clothes - but all she had succeeded in doing was making herself miserable and for what? Girls like Penelope Park don’t always walk away with the girl at the end of it all. She deserved nothing more than a lifetime of loneliness.

If Penelope cared (and she did, she really did) she would tell you about the scream in her heart when Josie ran, the cowardice hanging around her head like a halo of hesitation. Self-preservation really did make for strange bedfellows as she turned back to the girl, collateral damage in Penelope's self destruction, but the damage was done and Penelope fled behind Josie, no words left to speak. 

_She would tell you all of this if she cared._

xxx

Penelope follows Josie as she disappears into the darkness, finds her on the edge of the party, back against a tall tree and arms crossed. She approaches cautiously, nervous, her steps measured and since when did anyone make Penelope Park nervous? Afraid she will spook the other girl, Penelope clears her throat. Josie’s eyes that had been closed and titled skyward opening quickly, arms clenching tightly across her body. Closed off, walls a mile high. 

A thousand apologies drift towards Penelope's lips as she bends down to set the red cup on the ground, her fingers trembling before she moves closer to Josie. She clasps her hands in front of her black skirt, steps forward until she is a few feet away from Josie. 

“Did you come to drive the knife in deeper? Or maybe you’re here to scope out another spot for a quickie? Be careful about the pine needles, unless you’re into that kind of thing.” 

Penelope laughs and it rings hollow in her ears. “I actually -” _I don’t know why I’m here but I had to see you. I had to be near you_ , but no, that would be all wrong. “I am not very good at this kind of thing.” A hand reaches up to rub the back of her neck because this ill-conceived plan was going from bad to worse and she could barely form a sentence. 

“I just -” The sentence again dies on her lips and her feet move forward. She is invading Josie’s space and she knows she should say something more than half-formed statements but the anger and hurt that had flashed in Josie’s eyes as she approached seemed to have been swallowed away by something else. She looked scared, terrified even, but made no movements to leave, her chest rising and falling in a black sweater that Penelope wished she could run her fingers over. 

Josie’s heart stutters in her chest and she is weightless. Floating as Penelope approaches her, the music a dull throb in the back of her mind because nothing matters than this moment. A pull of a thread and she feels her arms relax in front of her, back arching slightly off the tree. Penelope’s voice is lost once more and Josie can barely breathe. The air in her lungs not satisfying the need in her heart, the need to pump more blood to her brain. 

Penelope’s fingers burn, actually _burn_ and tingle from where she yearns to reach out to Josie. The brunette is far too close now but the space between them is still far too great and Penelope steps in closer, Josie’s back hitting the tree trunk as she exhales loudly.

Josie bites her bottom lip to keep concentration on Penelope’s eyes when all she wants to do is glance down. 

Penelope’s vision swimming as she thinks of brown curls, porcelain skin, legs for days underneath a skirt and leggings. Josie brings color to her world but her vision is darkening. 

"Penelope - ” Josie whispers and Penelope dares to look up. Stupid girl and this stupid height difference. Josie’s smile is enough to make her heart dance in her chest and Penelope knows that she has to break this eye contact, this hold Josie has on her, before she does something stupid like pass out. Or kiss her. 

This is a moment trapped in time and Penelope and Josie know that they both will remember it for what it is. Not a fabrication. Two hearts beating simultaneously. Penelope’s a slow rhythm and Josie’s a pounding dance of thunder and cracks. 

Josie licks her lips before Penelope once again pauses, centimeters between them, and this moment is in slow-motion.

“Josie, I….” She pauses, because this is dangerous and the alarm bells should be ringing but all Penelope can see are flashes of light, dancing colors and the sound of the waves ebbing and flowing. She can feel the pull to Josie, a pull she has tried so hard to resist. Magnetic and other-worldly and _this will end so badly_ is ringing in her ears but she wants to throw all caution to the wind and move her hands to Josie’s cheek, her palms touching the skin that she knows to be so soft and drown in those dark eyes. Penelope wants to know if the things she dreams about at night are actually true - if Josie’s lips match the sweet words she whispered to her, hunched over books at an oaken table. Penelope wants to know if Josie can kiss as well she’s imagined. She wants to know if Josie’s touch will bring fireworks behind her eyes. She is certain of all of them. 

“I….” Penelope tries again lamely and her hand moves upwards towards Josie’s face. She swallows and innately knows that she is reaching the breaking the point, the point of no return. She has a reputation for breaking girls but maybe Josie would be the one to break her. 

Penelope’s right hand, adorned with rings feels like ice as she touches Josie’s cheek, skin to skin, and she is inches away and she just needs to close the distance, can feel Josie’s warm breath ghosting upon her lips, but a branch snaps somewhere behind them and the moment is gone. 

Penelope clears her throat and takes a step back and Josie is already missing the sensation against her skin. The warmth that Penelope’s hand brought to that one spot alone and the promise of how both hands would feel running all over her skin. 

The party rages on around them but the two girls, chest heaving, stand still in silence. 

The space between them. A chasm of unsaid words and wanting thoughts. Penelope’s body craves rest from the energy, the magnetism, the tension and the wanting, and maybe she needs to run from this but perhaps the moment isn’t over. Perhaps the pull - her heart to Josie’s - is something that Josie feels too. But she isn’t looking at Penelope, her eyes are downcast once more and the familiar timbre of “Josie? Josie, where are you?!” makes it way through the trees and the moment really has gone. 

A glance at Penelope and a tentative half-step forward before two steps back and Josie clears her throat and yells, “Coming, Lizzie!” over her shoulder before fleeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the delay - life happened really damn fast and i have two other fics that i am torturing myself with. all mistakes are my own. i absolutely adore comments and crave the validation <3 thank you so much for reading!


	4. somewhere in between

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter felt like an introspection that was necessary to get into the minds of our girls. call it my attempts to clean up any messes that i made in the first three chapters. credit to the darling rif for lending her eyes. all mistakes are my own. apologies endlessly for the delay. thank you to everyone who has left comments and kudos on this fic :)

Penelope groans into the space that Josie had just occupied, her perfume lingering in the air as the taller brunette made her way back to the party, gluing herself dutifully to Lizzie’s side before disappearing off towards the main building, sucked up by the dark forest all around them. Picking up her discarded red cup, willing herself not to think about her complete and utter lack of game in the last ten minutes, Penelope downs the contents, setting off towards the noise and sound, the antithesis of the charged atmosphere she had shared with Josie moments before. The vodka mixed with elderflower liqueur, cranberry juice, and lime juice worked to settle her frayed nerves but she was still vibrating, tingling at the near kiss. Damn Josie Saltzman and her ability to render Penelope absolutely speechless, senseless, off-kilter. 

On the bright side, minus a few barbs and threats (that Penelope well and truly deserved), Josie hadn’t pushed her away. Far from it, actually. Penelope’s heart swelled at the thought. Josie had leaned into Penelope’s hand and the raven-haired witch could still feel the warmth from Josie’s cheek, the rush of red and heat from adrenaline alone, from anticipation (dare she say from _want_ ), Josie’s chest rising and falling in beat with Penelope’s as they stood mere inches from each other. If only she had closed the damn distance sooner. All of the alcohol or magic in the world couldn’t even touch the high she felt at breathing Josie’s air, sharing that moment. She was instantly hooked. 

Penelope knew communication was never one of her strong suits. After all, the girl never had to explain her choices or her actions to anyone, let alone a romantic partner and her reputation certainly preceded her in that respect. She had crafted a persona, brick by impenetrable brick, of a girl wrapped in shadows, known by all but never intimately, everyone kept an arm’s length away. Penelope was never one to share her bed with the same girl or boy twice (because after the third time, expectations had been set, seeds of _something_ were inevitably sown, and she really had no time for that), but something about Josie Saltzman made all of those feelings, those desires to keep everyone out, to keep the armor intact, irrelevant . 

Like a spell she couldn’t translate, she craved a deeper knowledge of the headmaster’s daughter, away from her twin, away from the baggage that the Saltzman family name carried, away from expectations of anything. In those moments, stolen moments in the library or passing by Josie in the halls, Penelope had never seen the other brunette as Lizzie’s sister. She saw her as her own person. She saw a brilliant teenage girl who lingered in the shadows, heart of pure gold and the best intentions for everyone, willing to sacrifice for Lizzie’s happiness time and time again, even if it meant forgoing her own. 

To say that she had been struck by Josie from the first moment she had met her would have been far closer to the truth than a lie. There was something magnetic about her, after all. The pull Penelope had felt from day one had only grown stronger. Penelope had rebelled against the gravity of it all, the friction she knew would rub her raw and leave her senseless, but as the years passed by, as the two girls grew up and their orbits moved closer together, Penelope had grown tired of fighting whatever it was that had drawn her towards Josie on her first day of school. 

Dr. Saltzman had opened the Salvatore Boarding School as a safe place for supernatural children, a safe space for Josie, Lizzie and other kids like his daughters to find themselves and fit into a world in which acceptance was never an easy thing to come by. It was with this thought in mind, and perhaps with a sprinkle of punishment that Penelope was sent to the school at her mother’s behest. Her first day had begun with a tour of the campus and grounds by the headmaster and his twin daughters, ending spectacularly when Penelope had spelled a live bat to take up residence on Lizzie’s head when Alaric’s back was turned. Josie covered up a small chuckle with a concerned look, staring daggers at Penelope who caught the first reaction before Josie had schooled herself, winked and scampered away to a group of witches nearby. Her coven, her tribe. 

The practical joke was merely a ploy to get a reaction out of the quiet brunette who let her blonde sister do all the talking. The quiet brunette whose eyes lit up when her dad showed Penelope the lake and the stables, who beamed when they toured the library, whose toothy smile could power ten thousand light bulbs. The quiet brunette who Penelope could feel sneak glances towards her while they walked. Penelope was sure to sneak glances of Josie as well, eyes memorizing features, lines, dimples, freckles. Penelope had really just wanted to get Lizzie to shut up for two seconds. And maybe to make Josie smile. But definitely to get Lizzie to shut up. 

Even as a young girl, Penelope’s mother always told her to watch her mouth or she would get slapped. Girls with quick wits and quick tongues should never step a toe out of line. Penelope had both of those in spades, taking after her father. The threat of punishment from her mother was always hanging over her head like a hangman’s noose, but it was never enough to put fear in the young brunette. Well, scratch that. It was enough to stoke fear in the girl when she was four or five, maybe. But after she grew older, after she knew the currency that men and women traded in, after she realized the power and magic that flowed through her veins, threats from her mother fell as flat as the chests of the girls in her class. 

She was smart, smarter than most gave her credit for, and she was from a family of overachievers, from a coven of witches who lived for tradition and stability. Idle chatter and gossip that the boarding school traded in - it really was just high school, after all, that was the currency she traded in. She swam at the top of the shark tank, head held high, tongue and heart protected. A great white does not busy herself with the worries of a minnow. But those who thought Josie was a minnow - because there were many - were sorely mistaken and Penelope had seen the truth for herself over the years. She had seen the brilliance described as meekness, had seen the light in the darkness, and ached, physically ached for Josie to see herself the way that Penelope saw her. 

Her first move had been to take over Josie’s favorite spot in the library. While the taller brunette had made her snide comments and referenced the president of Russia, she had never explicitly told Penelope to leave, which Penelope took in stride. Penelope moved her orbit closer to Josie, tired of the parallel lines and craving the inevitable moment that they would intersect. Old habits die hard, however, and Penelope was only human and had misstepped rather dramatically with whatever that girl’s name was. Penelope’s eyes had fallen first to Josie and to the cupcake that sat on the desk in front of the space she would normally occupy and she really, really did not deserve Josie Saltzman. 

A week had passed without seeing Josie and Penelope had tried time and time again to catch her studying in the library, but the siphon seemed to have abandoned the space. Once again their orbits moved further away from each other. But then, tonight, that moment with Josie in the woods and Penelope felt the string pulled taut, her intentions made clear even if she had struggled to get the words out. 

Legs finally bringing her back to the table littered with alcohol and chasers, Penelope grabs a shot of vodka, chasing it with cranberry, mind reeling at her next move. Josie needed to be wooed, romanced, swept off of her feet. Seeds of a plan started to take shape in her mind. 

xxx

Walking away from Penelope in the forest had been one of the most difficult things for Josie to do. Penelope, eyes dark and heavy-lidded, pupils blown, chest heaving, had been rendered speechless and Josie could still feel the coolness of Penelope’s hand against her cheek as she joined Lizzie’s side in what was sure to be another near-breakdown. She touched her face where Penelope had touched her, but it didn't bring the same spark, the same electricity. The twins abandoned the party after Lizzie had been unsuccessful in her attempts to find a date for the Fall Fling, her temper fraying. It was all for the better, after all. The sky opened up around the revelers not long after, drenching the student body as they ran for cover. 

Josie was distracted as Lizzie ranted and raved, mind lost in a replay of the moment with Penelope. Josie’s anger dying on her lips as Penelope stepped towards her, hips swaying in equal parts seduction and nerves and Josie could only stare, her mouth dry. Body acting on instinct alone and Josie had leaned into Penelope, willing the other girl to close the gap and bring their lips together. Willing Penelope the courage that Josie knew she did not yet possess to explain this connection with Penelope. 

Josie followed Lizzie back to their shared room, conscious of their whispers as they passed Alaric's office, nodding and agreeing with whatever was coming out of Lizzie’s mouth before she interrupted her sister, grabbing her workout clothes and fleeing to the bathroom. 

“Josie - the gym? Are you serious? Now?!” Lizzie yelled through the door as Josie pulled on a yellow Salvatore tanktop and leggings, pulling her hair into a ponytail before joining her Lizzie who was sitting cross-legged on her bed, no doubt ready to launch into another diatribe about the insipid nature of teenage werewolves. 

“Yeah, Dad won’t know. And I just - I need some time alone-” To process, to decompress, to replay the near kiss. What Josie really needed was to work out her anxious nerves, her skin tingling, her head reeling, her nose still filled with Penelope’s perfume. But short of returning to the party and taking Penelope up against a tree, which Josie wanted to do, needed to do, but certainly not without a conversation about whatever _that_ in the woods was, punching and hitting something seemed like the next best thing. 

“Alone? Alone why?!” Lizzie’s voice, always an octave too high and a touch too aggressive when she was this worked up spiked louder and Josie grabbed a pair of socks and running shoes, perching on the edge of her bed. 

“You said so yourself, Liz. I’ve been off for a few days and need to get this nervous energy out of my system. I’ll be back, okay?” Josie smiled at Lizzie, with a quick hand to her shoulder before leaving the room. 

xxx

Dark rolling storms and pewter skies and Josie stood, hands on her hips, bearing witness to the wars of the gods in the clouds. She grabbed the jumping rope from the floor next to her, the punching bag she had been busying herself with moments before dangling silently. The windows of the gym shook in the storm, clouds looming of near atomic proportions, the sky cracking in two, lightning flashing like a heartbeat as Josie jumped to the percussion. 

One foot and then the next. The tempo an easy beat to keep after years of practice. Sweat beads down her temples and onto her chest. Hands grasping the rope as her lungs, arms, legs, hands ached from the exertion. It’s approaching midnight and no doubt Lizzie would be waiting up for her, still confused about Josie's reasoning for the late-night workout. 

How could she begin to tell her sister that her thoughts were plagued with the touch, the voice, the caress of a certain raven-haired witch that had made it her mission from day one of arriving at the Salvatore School to antagonize Lizzie? How could she tell Lizzie that she didn't hate Penelope Park, quite the opposite, really? How could she ever vocalize her feelings for the sarcastic witch who only showed softness to Josie in moments of tranquility, head buried in a book? 

She turned the sound up louder on her earbuds, the black devices are a godsend when she needed to quiet her racing thoughts. The music crescendos and Josie stops, chest heaving and hands on her knees as she tosses the jump rope aside, bending down to grab her water bottle. 

The door opens behind her but she hears nothing, the cacophony of noises silencing her movements. She barely notices Penelope's entrance as Josie drops her water bottle, turning to grab the jump rope once more, but nearly jumps out of her skin when she sees the very object of her thoughts. A scream escapes her lips, the jump rope dropping to the floor in a heap. 

“Shit, Penelope! That's twice tonight!” a wry laugh and Josie rubs the back of her neck, embarrassed beyond measure. Her cheeks are aflame and memories of earlier rush back in full force. Clearing her throat, she takes in the brunette once again, the low light of the gymnasium casting shadows across Penelope's hair and face. Clothes and hair immaculate, even despite the torrential downpour that was erupting around them and it should really be a sin for someone to look that good. "I'm beginning to think you enjoy sneaking up on me."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The reply is out of her lips before she has a chance to fully look at Josie. Penelope's brain short-circuits, for the second time tonight, at the sight of the siphon, but the liquid courage from earlier helps her find her voice. She bites her bottom lip, schooling herself to stare into Josie's eyes and not at the sweat sheen of her chest and collarbones, and certainly not at the way her black pants clung to her legs like a second skin. No, Penelope was here with a purpose. But whatever that purpose was seemed to have vanished in the face of a sweaty Josie with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. 

Penelope edges closer but pauses a few feet away from Josie lest she turn into a mumbling mess again. "I never thanked you for the translation of the cloaking spell, you know? " she smirks, an attempt to get the conversation back on track. 

"You're here to talk to me about school?" Josie raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms in front of her and moving her weight from one foot to the next. 

"Not quite," Penelope answers with a smile. "I want to take you a date." 

Oh, Josie really did not see that coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my headcanon is that josie blasts blackpink while working out and you can't change my mind.


	5. no time like now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a date accepted and some punches thrown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my attempt to buy some time before i have to write a date scene. also apologies for the endless delays - life really does get in the way of more enjoyable things, doesn't it? any and all mistakes are my own. love to my darling liz and bee for answering stupid questions about girls and witches (not necessarily in that order) and for helping me to make this world a bit richer. <333

A derisive laugh leaves Josie’s throat and she’s sure that she’s dreaming. Surely she invented this Penelope - soft and a bit nervous - quite the opposite of the headstrong, stubborn witch who ran the school with a posse of loyal followers trailing in her wake. Josie shakes her head, again picking up her discarded water bottle off of the gym floor because she needed something, anything to do with her hands. 

Because, _god_ , Penelope standing there, unsure of herself, but looking absolutely _sinful_ in a dark skirt, a black leather jacket over a black blouse unbuttoned dangerously low was tempting, far too tempting. Josie licks her lips as her eyes sweep up and down, down and up, taking the girl in as she stands before her because she was stubborn, yes, but she was only human after all, and no one should be able to look that damn good at midnight when the sky was letting loose all around them. Flashes of lightning filled the gym but Josie could swear that it wasn’t just the charged particles from the storm that could create this electricity between them. 

Josie knew she couldn’t repeat her mistakes from hours ago in the forest when she nearly let herself break and fall into Penelope’s soft, open, and willing hands. Josie could blame the momentary insanity on the music and the euphoria and the atmosphere and not on the way that Penelope could make her feel drunk without even a sip of alcohol. 

No, thinking that thought and going _there_ could only lead to hurt. But something about the way Penelope’s eyes were shining by the dim light inside and the flashes of brilliance outside made Josie want to, maybe, just maybe, throw caution to the wind again. 

The siphon brings herself back to the conversation, eyes stopping at Penelope’s cleavage because _honestly_ before meeting those green eyes that she swears had been taking over her dreams for the past fortnight. 

“You want to take me on date? Like an actual date? When this time last week you were shoving your tongue down some other girl’s throat?” Josie grips the metal bottle, her knuckles flashing white and betraying the cool exterior she is attempting to convey. Her heart is hovering in the space of her throat, her brain isn’t forming clear thoughts. 

Everything seems to start and end with Penelope Park. Here and now and in this moment. 

“Old habits die hard, it seems,” Penelope answers and she looks ashamed at her behavior, if Josie is to believe her. 

Josie’s head is screaming that she shouldn’t, but her heart has other ideas. Her heart and her hands have a mind of their own, she thinks, aching against her better judgment to reach out, grab Penelope and finish what they started in the woods. 

“But yes, that is exactly what I’m saying. You’re not -” a pause and Penelope, who had been maintaining eye contact with Josie even as the siphon looked at the ground, averts her eyes and glances skyward.

“You -” a pause, and a scoff because Josie was infuriating and Penelope was infuriated with herself and words clearly were not on her side tonight. 

But no, Josie deserved an explanation for what clearly was a whiplash of emotions coming from Penelope. She could blame it on teenage hormones...or she could be honest. She chose the latter. 

“What happened in the library - that was something that I was quite fond of doing before we started spending time together, even if it was just studying,” Penelope sighs and her eyes meet Josie’s once more. 

She glances down again and shifts her weight from one foot to the next, heel clicking on the wooden floor. So much for that liquid courage, but there is a note of pleading in her voice, willing Josie to give her this one chance to prove to her that this could be worth it, that she could be worth it. 

“You got in my head and I couldn’t get you out and I thought -” 

“You thought you could screw me out of your brain? What the fuck kind of logic is that? How is that at all a normal response to having -” Josie couldn’t form the word crush, couldn’t vocalize the spark between them lest it burn out before they had ever begun. 

“Mature, Penelope,” Josie’s voice is rising now, anger and hurt from the last few weeks again moving to the surface. 

“You know what?” Penelope nods her head, her heart hovering in her stomach and her front teeth biting into her bottom lip. She wrings her hands together in front of her once before nodding again, as if to herself. 

“I’m really sorry to have taken you from your workout, Jojo,” Penelope attempts a half-hearted smile and it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. So much for a second try. 

Josie is reaching for her before her mind can think, and she pulls Penelope back, hand grasping the brunette’s wrist. 

“Penelope, don’t go…”

“I didn’t say no, silly,” Josie whispers, and her hand moves lower without conscious thought, grasping Penelope’s hand in her own and leveling the witch with a determined look. 

“Yes, but you didn’t say ‘yes’ either.” 

“Yes, Penelope,” a pause as she smiles into the words. “As if you needed any assurance.” 

“Hey, I’m all about consent,” Penelope states seriously, but a smile betrays her features and her thumb is absently rubbing Josie’s hand. She is sure she will never tire of the feeling of this - grasping her fingers, intertwining them, the weight of Josie’s hand in hers and the way it makes her chest feel lighter. 

“Friday night sound okay to you?” Penelope asks, eyes still focused on Josie’s hand in hers. She resists the urge to swing their hands, but settles for bringing Josie’s hand in hers up to her lips to place a soft, lingering kiss. 

Josie feels as if she is going to faint from the delicate touch, her heartbeat in her ears and her mouth dry. 

“Yeah - that, it’s perfect.” Josie swallows loudly, eyes on Penelope, knowing with one tug she could pull her into her body. 

“Do I get any clues or hints?” 

“Of course not.” Well, it was worth a shot. 

“What kind of a girl do you take me for, Saltzman? I am going to woo you.” Penelope brings their hands again to her lips and she kisses the back of Josie’s hand, making eye contact with the siphon before whispering, “sweet dreams, Josie,” and turning to leave the gym. 

Josie flops to the mat once the door shuts behind Penelope, arms spread widely as the rain beats against the windows, a smile breaking across her face. 

xxx

Lizzie finds her perched in a worn armchair in the library, the light of the fire illuminating the room in a dull orange glow, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering the brunette witch. The blonde approaches Penelope, is standing in front of her for nearly fifteen seconds before she angrily clears her throat while rolling her eyes, a sickeningly sweet smile plastered to her face. She resists the urge to throw out her hands and fling Penelope’s chair back against the wall, just to see what the brunette would do, but her mother’s mantra of keeping her cool and her father’s recent attempts at meditation were ringing through her ears. She had done enough damage already and didn’t need to add assault to the list. Yet. 

Penelope slowly, achingly, looks up from her book while turning the page with a careless smirk, licking her middle finger to moisten the page. 

“I was wondering when you were going to give me the shovel talk, Saltzman,” Penelope smiles into the sentence, dog-earing the page she was reading as she closes the book in her lap. The words drip from Penelope’s lips like honey and Lizzie is even more annoyed now than she was thirty minutes ago as the rumor swept the school. 

“News here travels fast.” 

“Not fast enough, Park.”

It was a miracle that it had taken that long to reach Lizzie’s ears and she should have expected something was up last night when Josie came back to their room all smiles and humming as she got ready for bed. Lizzie, thinking it was endorphins, just bade her sister goodnight and rolled over. 

But the fact that it had taken the better part of a day to get back to Lizzie was enough to give Penelope a bit of pause - she clearly hadn’t told her sister about her date, which wasn’t an issue as Lizzie and Penelope certainly weren’t competing for the title of best friends forever, but the brunette wondered fleetingly if Josie wanted to keep this, her, their date, a secret. 

Lizzie knew she would have to tell Alaric of an unfortunate mishap in the kitchen (broken dishware wasn’t as easily replaced as textbooks burnt to a crisp, it seemed) before the end of the night, and honestly, she was more than entitled to a little bit of a freak-out. This was Satan’s mistress and her sister, after all. 

The blonde siphon was well aware that her rage burned bright like a supernova, that all of her tantrums and episodes were like a dying star in their intensity, a nuclear bomb with plenty more in the arsenal, while Josie carried the same darkness, the same embers burning within her, simmering and cautious below the surface, never called forth, but this - the destruction of plates and the standoff with Penelope - was all in the name of protecting Josie from what was sure to end in heartbreak and Lizzie picking up shards of Josie’s heart from the ashes. She was protecting her. 

“What are you doing with Josie, she-devil?” 

“I am simply taking your sister on a date, Lizzie. Certainly its a bit early for the empty threats of bodily harm if I don’t treat her well -” Penelope has half a mind to stand up to continue this conversation with Lizzie, but the blonde was already towering over her and she really didn’t have the energy to prolong this fight. She would let Lizzie say her piece and then take Jojo out for an amazing date on Friday night. It was only five days away, after all. Penelope wondered fleetingly if Josie liked lilies.

“You will treat her well because if you don’t, I swear I’ll-”

“You’ll what?” Penelope’s eyes flash dark and Lizzie clenches her jaw, her tirade cut short. 

_“Show me your worst, Saltzman.”_

Lizzie pauses with a huff, fists at her side as she decides to take a different tactic. “You don’t deserve her.” 

“Yes, that is something we both seem to agree on, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do everything in my power to prove to her that I am worthy of her time and her affections.” Penelope smiles at Lizzie slowly, her lips turning upwards. Lizzie wanted to smack the smirk off of her face. 

“What’s in it for you?” Lizzie levels her eyes at Penelope, who is staring right back, lionesses both ready to pounce.

Penelope isn’t surprised to be having this conversation with Lizzie. She isn’t surprised that her head is so far up her ass that she can’t really see Josie for the spectacularly brilliant person she is. Years had passed and Penelope had witnessed Josie cater to her sister’s feelings rather than her own countless times. Josie was Lizzie’s security blanket and Penelope’s presence threatened the hold that Lizzie had on the brunette siphon. Penelope could wax poetic about the countless ways that Josie Saltzman had ingrained herself into every fiber of Penelope’s being, but as she had yet to tell Josie, Lizzie really didn’t deserve to hear about them first. 

“Your sister isn’t some prize to be won. This isn’t about Josie as a commodity or someone without agency." Penelope stops, angling her head at Lizzie. 

"Can you believe that even for just one second, Lizzie, that this isn’t about you?” 

Lizzie pauses, a retort on the tip of her tongue before her mouth closes. She opens it again and groans, at herself, at Penelope, at the stupid fact that Josie has a date with the devil’s plaything.

“I'm trusting you for now, Park, but if you hurt her, because you will inevitably hurt her, and I will be there to pick up the pieces, there will be hell to pay.” 

“You have me shaking in my Jimmy Choos, Lizzie.” Penelope rises, her jaw set as she runs a hand through her hair with an eyebrow raised. “Are we done here?” 

Lizzie chooses not to respond, just bites her teeth together and turns. Penelope figures she was fifteen seconds away from yet another tantrum and her suspicions are confirmed when she hears the inevitable shattering of glass moments later. The brunette witch laughs to herself, her mind settling on an idea for how exactly she was going to keep the attention of Josie Saltzman. She had already captured the attention of the siphon, that was easy, but now she was playing for keeps. And if some small part of wooing Josie brought Lizzie as much discomfort as the idea of one date did, then Penelope was just going to have to play the long game.


End file.
